I just finished a 6-week IMPACT self defense class with Prepare Inc, and it was incredible, and not at all what I expected.

I thought I was taking just a scary exercise class, where I'd learn to punch, kick and yell "no." And yes, that's part of it, but I was unprepared for it to be so healing. The instructors held space for all of us students to be wherever we were, whether that was joking or crying. They discussed victim blaming, and how it's never allowed in class. It is never the survivor's fault. We covered ways to set boundaries, and how predators push those boundaries. We were taught to always trust our instinct about a situation. And we beat the well-padded crap out of the armored fight instructors.

We were taught to always deliver a blow with your full strength, so it'd be in your muscle memory and your body would know how to fight back even if your mind went blank with adrenaline and panic. The body's knowledge is so powerful, and something I haven't experienced before like this. In the last class, we had to fight in improvised scenarios. I was in full adrenaline reaction, and I don't really even know what happened in my fight. But I was standing at the end of it. And I watched my classmates each take on these challenges and fight so fiercely.

This class changed the experience of anger and fear for me, and let me feel my emotions and body in a whole new way. I feel more at home in my body, and more aware of my senses. And I feel safer, physically and emotionally. I am so grateful to my instructors and classmates for this experience.
If you're in the NYC area, you owe it to yourself to take a class with them. And there are other IMPACT organizations teaching this curriculum across the country. Scholarships, group classes, and private group lessons are available.
prepareinc.com

📷: "Hands Off" self defense manual by Bob Jones, featuring Stevie Nicks
(Of course we were working in sneakers instead of platform boots, but not everyone can live at Stevie Nicks levels of glamour.)

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